sopa US Threatened To Blacklist Spain For Not Implementing Site Blocking Law

[ThePitt]

In a leaked letter sent to Spain?s outgoing President, the US ambassador to the country warned that as punishment for not passing a SOPA-style file-sharing site blocking law, Spain risked being put on a United States trade blacklist . Inclusion would have left Spain open to a range of ?retaliatory options? but already the US was working with the incoming government to reach its goals.

United States government interference in Spain?s intellectual property laws had long been suspected, but it was revelations from Wikileaks that finally confirmed the depth of its involvement.

More than 100 leaked cables showed that the US had helped draft new Spanish copyright legislation and had heavily influenced the decisions of both the government and opposition.

Now, another diplomatic leak has revealed how the US voiced its anger towards outgoing President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero last month upon realizing that his government was unlikely to pass the US-drafted Sinde (site blocking) Law before leaving office.

In a letter dated December 12th and sent by US Ambassador Alan D. Solomont to the Spanish Prime Minister?s office, the US expressed ?deep concern? over the failure to implement the SOPA-style censorship law.

http://torrentfreak.com/us-threatened-to-blacklist-spain-for-not-implementing-site-blocking-law-120105/

I would like to hear some spanish jokes about this SOPA word. And I wonder how funny this is for them. More when a country threatened your country like this.

Anyways, like any good slave, they must and they will obey ;)

[bjoswald]

There we go again, telling others what to do and when to do it. Yet we wonder why the rest of the world laughs at us and/or tells us to shove it.

It's almost like we're asking to be bombed.

[+DKAngel Subscriber²]

go away usa we dont want your sopa ****, **** off

[primexx]

****. they're undoubtedly coming after us (Canada) as well and our megalomaniac of a prime minister would only be all too willing to do whatever the US masters dictate. **** **** ****. seriously everyone from the US, sort your government in order already because it's not just ****ing yourselves over, it's also ****ing the rest of the world over, and we don't even get to vote. bull****.

[The_Observer]

this is interesting, cause NZ internet law was also helped by USA.

[DrJohnSmitherson]

****. they're undoubtedly coming after us (Canada) as well and our megalomaniac of a prime minister would only be all too willing to do whatever the US masters dictate. **** **** ****. seriously everyone from the US, sort your government in order already because it's not just ****ing yourselves over, it's also ****ing the rest of the world over, and we don't even get to vote. bull****.

I know it sucks, but get mad at the prime ministers who go along with it. The US isn't the only one at fault. Other countries should fight back if the US decides to pass it....

[Gutierrez]

after 9/11 they thing they have the RIGHT to tell the other people what to do. And spain was the first to obey.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

I know it sucks, but get mad at the prime ministers who go along with it. The US isn't the only one at fault. Other countries should fight back if the US decides to pass it....

That problem is there's often no choice, if they go against the US the US puts them on the naughty list and puts restrictions on trade.

They tried getting our government to "overhaul" some of our laws a while back, the government almost ended up blocking Google (and other search engines) and having fines for public singing before they dropped the idea.

[M_Lyons10]

There we go again, telling others what to do and when to do it. Yet we wonder why the rest of the world laughs at us and/or tells us to shove it.

It really is ridiculous. We can't even get our own country running smoothly and we tell others how they should be doing things... It's really bizarre to me. We shouldn't even be involved...

[Hum]

Mind your own business, USA.

Censorship is seldom a good thing.

[tiagosilva29]

Team America: **** Yeah!

[ichi]

As Thom pointed out in Osnews:

Isn't it funny that one of the main driving forces behind the push for more stringent copyright laws, Disney, has built its empire almost entirely on appropriating European public domain stories? As a European, that's just insulting.

I'm not sure why this is news now, there were leaked cables about the US influence on the proposed Spanish Sinde law months ago already (actually maybe more than a year ago).

Anyway, even without the intervention of the US the (fortunately failed) Sinde law was hardly surprising considering that Gonzalez Sinde, the Minister of Culture of the outgoing government, was one of those pathetic movie directors that make a living of sucking from government subventions while releasing crappy movies that no one wants to see. You know, the kind of parasite that screams for IP protection while producing nothing of value.

I find more insulting that such a woman was in charge of promoting and protecting Spanish culture than the usual and totally expected US extortion of foreign countries to push their agenda.

[Southern Patriot]

go away usa we dont want your sopa ****, **** off

And yet, apparently most people outside the US want our software, music, and TV shows.

As for the OSnews quote above me, once something enter the public domain, you can't really complain when someone else uses it. That's sort of the point.

[ichi]

As for the OSnews quote above me, once something enter the public domain, you can't really complain when someone else uses it. That's sort of the point.

There's no complain about the use of public domain stuff, but rather about their fierce approach to protect an IP that's basically based on public domain.

It's kind of hypocritical to be a supporter of the most aggressive copyright policies when you are just using other people stories for free (more so when trying to extort the very foreign countries you ripped the stories off into implementing harsh IP laws that not even yourself are following).

[Joey S]

Wow, and people wonder why everyone despises the American Government (I don't hold the American people accountable for their corrupt government's actions).

[BetaAddict]

****. they're undoubtedly coming after us (Canada) as well and our megalomaniac of a prime minister would only be all too willing to do whatever the US masters dictate. **** **** ****. seriously everyone from the US, sort your government in order already because it's not just ****ing yourselves over, it's also ****ing the rest of the world over, and we don't even get to vote. bull****.

Problem is that we really don't have much control over what happens once a someone is elected. There are only handful of congressmen who have the cojones to take a moral/ethical stance on issues like this and do what is beneficial to the people that voted for them. The rest just follow what their campaign dollars and kickbacks tell them to do. It's getting harder and harder to ignore because of the number of laws beinng debated right now that have direct impact on the way of life.

[Julius Caro]

I'm spanish, and while the whole ordeal is scandalous, most of the pirated content in Spain are american productions, because spaniards dont really give 2 cents for the crap the local industry releases. If I was american and worked in that industry, I would expect my government to 'fight' for my interests too. Even though I personally dont agree in any of the measures the entertainment industry has taken to counter piracy. The industry failed by clinging to the old model and going after individuals.

In the US you have hulu, generalized HD broadcasts, full episodes on channel's websites, netflix, etc. In spain we have NOTHING. We have to wait months (or weeks in some cases), for shows to be shown, with dubbings of the most dubious quality, in SD channels. Right now, they're even digitally altering episodes to add product placements that were not in the original US broadcasts. The cinemas are bad too. In the US, digital 4k is also common I guess. In spain most are not digital yet, and are VERY poorly maintained. I hadnt realized how much quality we were missing until I went to the US last year and noticed that myself.

So yeah, its true, spain pirates content way more than they should, but the industry is failing to react and actually offer the content.

[Roguefoxx]

I laugh at the generalization of some of you people who want to blindly point your fingers at all American people to get "our" government in order so you don't have to suffer from what "our" government dictates. I don't agree with A LOT of what's going on with our government at the moment, or for quite some time now, and there are millions I'm sure that feel the same way. But it seems to me that maybe YOU, from your respective countries, who who want to point YOUR fingers at us should probably be looking to your own government to not side with ours. Just because your government agrees to what ours dictates doesn't make that our fault. Maybe yours should have a little more backbone to stand on. I wish yours wouldn't agree with ours so often because it may make it a bit more difficult for ours to do whatever they feel they want/need to. There are many ways to look at it.

This isn't directed towards everyone, just those that want to point fingers at all Americans like it's all our fault for everything that happens with our government.

[dfuk]

Standard do as we say not as we do

[ichi]

I laugh at the generalization of some of you people who want to blindly point your fingers at all American people to get "our" government in order so you don't have to suffer from what "our" government dictates. I don't agree with A LOT of what's going on with our government at the moment, or for quite some time now, and there are millions I'm sure that feel the same way. But it seems to me that maybe YOU, from your respective countries, who who want to point YOUR fingers at us should probably be looking to your own government to not side with ours. Just because your government agrees to what ours dictates doesn't make that our fault. Maybe yours should have a little more backbone to stand on. I wish yours wouldn't agree with ours so often because it may make it a bit more difficult for ours to do whatever they feel they want/need to. There are many ways to look at it.

This isn't directed towards everyone, just those that want to point fingers at all Americans like it's all our fault for everything that happens with our government.

Although I agree, bear in mind anyway that it isn't as much a matter of "agreement" as "bending to coercion".

The US isn't politely asking, they are threatening.

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

Wow, and people wonder why everyone despises the American Government (I don't hold the American people accountable for their corrupt government's actions).

Well that brings me great comfort Joey. You hate my country, you hate me. Oh and could you name some of these corrupt government actions?

[+hedleigh Subscriber²]

Well that brings me great comfort Joey. You hate my country, you hate me. Oh and could you name some of these corrupt government actions?

Uhm, allowing corporations to run the place?

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

Uhm, allowing corporations to run the place?

What corporations? You have a valid source for this?

[+hedleigh Subscriber²]

What corporations? You have a valid source for this?

This thread?

[citan]

Seriously if you believe that the US is run by the US government do some reaserch online. I mean untill they ban all the sources with SOPA. I think there's no discussion about the banking families controlling the US - with the federal reserve which prints money and lends it to the government WITH interest. Which makes all the US citizens constant prisoners of debt. But believe what you want or wake up ;)